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the Austrian Anschluss
Hitler threatened to invade German-speaking Austria unless Austrian Nazis were given important government posts. Austria's chancellor gave in to this demand. After he gave into this demand of Hitler he wanted to bring it to a democratic vote. Hitler sent troops into into Austria in March and announced the Anschluss of Austria and Germany. -
The Munich Conference
At the Munich Conference Britain and France agreed to Hitlers demand's. This policy became known as appeasement. People that supported the appeasement thought that Hitler only had a few limited demands. They believed that if they gave Hitler everything that he wanted it would avoid them from going through the devastation. -
Hitler Demands Danzig
The Polish wanted Danzig within its boundaries, but the predominantly ethnic German city wished for the status quo. When the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany, many recruitment efforts by the party were active in Danzig. By 1933, 38% of the Danzig parliament was consisted of Nazi Party members, and a similarly significant percentage of the population expressed their wish to become a part of Germany. With pride, some of the parliamentarians wore the Nazi swastika on their arms. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
In April 1939, Russia, Britain and France met to form an alliance to defend Poland by August 1939, Russia had swapped sides and made a pact with Germany. Through the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Stalin and Hitler agreed not to go to war with each other and to split Poland between them.In April 1939, Stalin suggested an alliance of Russia, France and Britain against Germany. Hitler would not have been able to invade Poland if taking that action would have meant war with Russia. -
The Invasion Of Poland
This move was not popular with many Germans who supported Hitler but resented the fact that Poland had received the former German provinces of West Prussia, Poznan, and Upper Silesia under the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. However, Hitler sought the nonaggression pact in order to neutralize the possibility of a French-Polish military alliance against Germany before Germany had a chance to rearm. -
The Fall of France
Although Hitler's armies were smaller than those of his opponents, the Germans had both air superiority and imagination. More than half of France's 800,000 troops were confined to manning the defensive Maginot Line, a line of fortifications facing Germany from the Swiss to the Belgian frontiers. The Germans simply sidestepped them.The Germans advanced against France through the Ardennes Forest, which the French had considered to be impassable to tanks. -
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
It was a fateful decision that would ultimately transform a military defeat into a moral victory. As German forces continued their advance into France, General Viscount Gort, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France, could see that the German invaders were getting the upper hand. The French Army was in disarray while his own forces were fighting desperately. The French called upon Gort to move his troops south to join them in a defensive stand. -
The Battle of Britain
. A significant turning point of World War II, the Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and, ultimately, its civilian population. Britain’s decisive victory saved the country from a ground invasion and possible occupation by German forces while proving that air power alone could be used to win a major battle.
